Trump’s White House declared victory while the region kept burning, the Vatican recoiled, allies hedged, and ordinary Americans learned that this government makes it easier to fight a war than to vote
Marz, Marz, Marz...yay for the boy! What would we do without our babies who help keep us sane?? My girl, Sydney, and I will head out for a romp, too. There is joy and it is wrapped up in fur, tail wags, and sweetness. Thanks again for all you do, Mary...yours in solidarity!!
We are at an odd point indeed. It would seem cooler heads prevailed allowing a diplomatic off ramp viz a viz an Iranian Armageddon. News Tuesday evening, details on Wednesday per CNN. WTAF, goes Trump, who gets his briefing from the TV, not the daily briefs (they are so boring!). Fake news, prosecute the reporter for what? Oh, NSPM-7: un American reporting (i.e. don’t embarrass Trump). But what must take the cake: piss off the Pope. Thankfully, Ole Pete assures God is on our side despite killing a bunch of school kids in the process in our righteous Crusade. Meanwhile our only remaining “ally” tells us to F.O. as they continue to bomb Lebanon into the Stone Age.
As an aside, I am a NM resident. I could not be more proud of our Representative Melanie Stansbury. She is articulate and shows real grit in calling out this Administration’s betrayal of the America I love. Brava Melanie, you have my full vote!
I just read today’s newsletter to my husband. He responded with praise for Mary’s “in-depth understanding of WTF’s going on, the root system of events beneath the surface”. For a man of few words, he captured how precious fact-based journalism and analysis has become in our lives.
It’s gratifying to see thousands now read Mary’s and daughter Shanley’s essays and value their indomitable spirits and exhaustive work so what’s true and real can be illuminated.
I have to say that the Vatican has a lot of nerve claiming to be for the "least among us". Doesn't anyone really read about what this church has done to humanity since its founding? We have the US Catholic Bishops Conference in the US continuing to spend millions to lobby for anti gay , anti women and anti public school legislation, not to mention that we keep seeing the piles of priest abuse cases pop up on a regular basis. I personally "recoil" whenever the Pope or the Catholic Church is mentioned as having anything to do with helping humanity.
Other points about alleged strongman: His only form of exercise seems to be golf. No contact sports in his almost 80 years. Cartoon of Obama and old don on basketball court would be an enjoyable watch.
From aerial view, the current catastrophe might end up worse than Vietnam. It will likely never rival the damage done to military people from Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan. Addicts and homeless and PTSD from Vietnam and add brain damage from Middle East wars after "Mission Accomplished" was claimed in a banner.
Mary, once again, you name trump and the damage he is doing to the U.S. at home and abroad, but you effectively give republicans in Congress and the GOP (who forevermore will be known as the Guardians Of Pedophiles) a pass. The entire U.S. system of government IS regarded as unstable and untrustworthy bu the rest of the world, ut not merely because of trump. It is considered so because the feckless republicans in Congress refuse to do their jobs and reign in trump and his minions. It is the republicans' lack of any involvement that has so degraded the U.S. in world affairs. Please, please call out the feckless, sycophantic, do nothing, bobbleheaded republicans loudly and forcefully on a daily basis. The demented, felonious pedophile could not have done any of this damage without the complicancy of the craven republicans.
Apparently the " leadership " of the orange chimp threatening civilization and an ex Fox host attempting to cosplay his evangelical crusader fantasy with actual soldiers is not the recruitment draw that they hoped. Oddly, on April 16th, the State Department will reduce their fee for renouncing US citizenship from $2350 to $450. Talk about mixed messages.
$1.4bn was bet on oil falling mere hours before Trump’s Iran ceasefire. It follows a pattern of suspected insider trading
Lachlan Keller
5–7 minutes
Accusations of insider trading have long dogged the Trump administration, with reports of sizable bets — made across stocks, crypto, oil and more — suspiciously timed around major announcements from the US president. Trading activity around the uneasy two-week ceasefire in the Iran war continues this pattern.
Mere hours before Donald Trump walked back his threat to destroy Iran’s “whole civilisation” yesterday, unknown investors bet US$950 million (A$1.4 billion) that oil would fall, according to a Reuters analysis of LSEG data. Nearly 1% of the total day’s trade was placed right before the announcement that plunged the price of oil by 15% to below US$100 a barrel for the first time in weeks.
This mirrors the high volume of well-timed trades seen last month. Just 15 minutes before Trump announced a five-day delay to his promise to “obliterate” Iran’s power plants if it failed to open the Strait of Hormuz by March 23, US$500 million worth of bets were placed on oil futures falling. After the US president’s announcement, oil fell by 15%.
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Australia urgently needs a debate about the damage the US is doing to us
Beyond oil, similar concerns of insider trading were raised last April, when Trump posted “NOW IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY” to his Truth Social account, just hours before announcing a pause on tariffs on many of America’s trading partners. This was a major reversal from his much-touted “Liberation Day” tariffs regime. In the minutes before Trump’s announcement, there was a surge in short-term call options linked to an S&P 500 tracking exchange-traded fund (ETF). The S&P 500 climbed about 10% shortly after the pause was announced.
Individuals have also come under fire. Former Fox News host and current Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has faced scrutiny following reports a broker acting on his behalf looked to invest in a defence fund right before the attacks on Iran. Hegseth denies these claims, saying his broker was acting independently. Trump has said that Hegseth was one of the most vocal hawks for the war.
Several accounts on the predictions market Polymarket had a healthy payday in correctly predicting the recent ceasefire. Blockchain-based prediction markets like Polymarket have exploded in popularity recently, allowing users to place simple “yes” or “no” bets in cryptocurrency on real-world events, ranging from the likelihood of dildos being thrown onto the courts at WNBA games to the toppling of world leaders, including Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro.
Analyst platform Bubblemaps identified a group of Polymarket accounts that made US$600,000 betting on the ceasefire. It alleged that many of these newly created accounts were the same that made US$1.2 million by correctly betting on the strikes that killed former Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei, placing their bets just hours before the strikes took place. Many of these accounts had predicted a number of the events in the Iran war with “near-perfect” accuracy.
Australian gambling regulators blocked Polymarket in August last year after a Crikey investigation found the betting platform was paying TikTokers to promote gambling on the Australian election.
Whether these bets were placed by figures inside the White House is unknown, but it is clear that people in the administration know about Polymarket. There’s the speculation that Press Secretary Karoline Levitt deliberately and abruptly ended a press conference early to ensure it didn’t run for longer than 65 minutes, ensuring punters on the “no” side would receive a 50x payout. Trump’s son Don Jr was an investor in Polymarket through his investment firm 1798 Capital, and sits as an adviser with the company.
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Trump’s wrecking ball will reshape American life for decades
As Crikey has previously reported, the Trump family is not squeamish about making money from cryptocurrency while in office. The first family’s profits from cryptocurrency now top US$1.4 billion, according to a Bloomberg analysis.
It’s not just the Americans who are using the Polymarket either. In February, two Israelis were charged with using classified military information to place bets on the platform on how events would unfold, and now face charges including bribery and obstruction of justice. Last month, an Israeli journalist, after reporting on a missile strike in Israel, started receiving threats from people who had bet on the strikes on Polymarket, trying to force him to retract the report.
Not wanting to miss out on the fun, Truth Social announced last year it was launching its own prediction market, the aptly named “Truth Predict”. “We’re democratising information and empowering everyday Americans to harness the wisdom of the crowd, turning free speech into actionable foresight,” Devin Nunes, chairman and CEO of Trump Media, said in an October statement.
If the wisdom of the crowd is anything to go by, Donald Trump’s days could be numbered. Odds on Polymarket are giving him a 67% chance of being impeached before the end of his term, as the war in Iran remains incredibly unpopular, and many even in his own party have been shocked by Trump’s threats to “destroy Iran’s civilisation.”
Marz, Marz, Marz...yay for the boy! What would we do without our babies who help keep us sane?? My girl, Sydney, and I will head out for a romp, too. There is joy and it is wrapped up in fur, tail wags, and sweetness. Thanks again for all you do, Mary...yours in solidarity!!
We are at an odd point indeed. It would seem cooler heads prevailed allowing a diplomatic off ramp viz a viz an Iranian Armageddon. News Tuesday evening, details on Wednesday per CNN. WTAF, goes Trump, who gets his briefing from the TV, not the daily briefs (they are so boring!). Fake news, prosecute the reporter for what? Oh, NSPM-7: un American reporting (i.e. don’t embarrass Trump). But what must take the cake: piss off the Pope. Thankfully, Ole Pete assures God is on our side despite killing a bunch of school kids in the process in our righteous Crusade. Meanwhile our only remaining “ally” tells us to F.O. as they continue to bomb Lebanon into the Stone Age.
As an aside, I am a NM resident. I could not be more proud of our Representative Melanie Stansbury. She is articulate and shows real grit in calling out this Administration’s betrayal of the America I love. Brava Melanie, you have my full vote!
I just read today’s newsletter to my husband. He responded with praise for Mary’s “in-depth understanding of WTF’s going on, the root system of events beneath the surface”. For a man of few words, he captured how precious fact-based journalism and analysis has become in our lives.
It’s gratifying to see thousands now read Mary’s and daughter Shanley’s essays and value their indomitable spirits and exhaustive work so what’s true and real can be illuminated.
I have to say that the Vatican has a lot of nerve claiming to be for the "least among us". Doesn't anyone really read about what this church has done to humanity since its founding? We have the US Catholic Bishops Conference in the US continuing to spend millions to lobby for anti gay , anti women and anti public school legislation, not to mention that we keep seeing the piles of priest abuse cases pop up on a regular basis. I personally "recoil" whenever the Pope or the Catholic Church is mentioned as having anything to do with helping humanity.
Other points about alleged strongman: His only form of exercise seems to be golf. No contact sports in his almost 80 years. Cartoon of Obama and old don on basketball court would be an enjoyable watch.
From aerial view, the current catastrophe might end up worse than Vietnam. It will likely never rival the damage done to military people from Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan. Addicts and homeless and PTSD from Vietnam and add brain damage from Middle East wars after "Mission Accomplished" was claimed in a banner.
Mary, once again, you name trump and the damage he is doing to the U.S. at home and abroad, but you effectively give republicans in Congress and the GOP (who forevermore will be known as the Guardians Of Pedophiles) a pass. The entire U.S. system of government IS regarded as unstable and untrustworthy bu the rest of the world, ut not merely because of trump. It is considered so because the feckless republicans in Congress refuse to do their jobs and reign in trump and his minions. It is the republicans' lack of any involvement that has so degraded the U.S. in world affairs. Please, please call out the feckless, sycophantic, do nothing, bobbleheaded republicans loudly and forcefully on a daily basis. The demented, felonious pedophile could not have done any of this damage without the complicancy of the craven republicans.
So is the policy change to automatically enlist 18 year old men [not women?] into the Selective Service system actual policy now or just proposed?
Apparently the " leadership " of the orange chimp threatening civilization and an ex Fox host attempting to cosplay his evangelical crusader fantasy with actual soldiers is not the recruitment draw that they hoped. Oddly, on April 16th, the State Department will reduce their fee for renouncing US citizenship from $2350 to $450. Talk about mixed messages.
The Trump family grift has also played this so-called "cease-fire" into a money making scam.
crikey.com.au
$1.4bn was bet on oil falling mere hours before Trump’s Iran ceasefire. It follows a pattern of suspected insider trading
Lachlan Keller
5–7 minutes
Accusations of insider trading have long dogged the Trump administration, with reports of sizable bets — made across stocks, crypto, oil and more — suspiciously timed around major announcements from the US president. Trading activity around the uneasy two-week ceasefire in the Iran war continues this pattern.
Mere hours before Donald Trump walked back his threat to destroy Iran’s “whole civilisation” yesterday, unknown investors bet US$950 million (A$1.4 billion) that oil would fall, according to a Reuters analysis of LSEG data. Nearly 1% of the total day’s trade was placed right before the announcement that plunged the price of oil by 15% to below US$100 a barrel for the first time in weeks.
This mirrors the high volume of well-timed trades seen last month. Just 15 minutes before Trump announced a five-day delay to his promise to “obliterate” Iran’s power plants if it failed to open the Strait of Hormuz by March 23, US$500 million worth of bets were placed on oil futures falling. After the US president’s announcement, oil fell by 15%.
Related Article Block Placeholder Article ID: 1247060
Australia urgently needs a debate about the damage the US is doing to us
Beyond oil, similar concerns of insider trading were raised last April, when Trump posted “NOW IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY” to his Truth Social account, just hours before announcing a pause on tariffs on many of America’s trading partners. This was a major reversal from his much-touted “Liberation Day” tariffs regime. In the minutes before Trump’s announcement, there was a surge in short-term call options linked to an S&P 500 tracking exchange-traded fund (ETF). The S&P 500 climbed about 10% shortly after the pause was announced.
Individuals have also come under fire. Former Fox News host and current Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has faced scrutiny following reports a broker acting on his behalf looked to invest in a defence fund right before the attacks on Iran. Hegseth denies these claims, saying his broker was acting independently. Trump has said that Hegseth was one of the most vocal hawks for the war.
Several accounts on the predictions market Polymarket had a healthy payday in correctly predicting the recent ceasefire. Blockchain-based prediction markets like Polymarket have exploded in popularity recently, allowing users to place simple “yes” or “no” bets in cryptocurrency on real-world events, ranging from the likelihood of dildos being thrown onto the courts at WNBA games to the toppling of world leaders, including Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro.
Analyst platform Bubblemaps identified a group of Polymarket accounts that made US$600,000 betting on the ceasefire. It alleged that many of these newly created accounts were the same that made US$1.2 million by correctly betting on the strikes that killed former Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei, placing their bets just hours before the strikes took place. Many of these accounts had predicted a number of the events in the Iran war with “near-perfect” accuracy.
Australian gambling regulators blocked Polymarket in August last year after a Crikey investigation found the betting platform was paying TikTokers to promote gambling on the Australian election.
Whether these bets were placed by figures inside the White House is unknown, but it is clear that people in the administration know about Polymarket. There’s the speculation that Press Secretary Karoline Levitt deliberately and abruptly ended a press conference early to ensure it didn’t run for longer than 65 minutes, ensuring punters on the “no” side would receive a 50x payout. Trump’s son Don Jr was an investor in Polymarket through his investment firm 1798 Capital, and sits as an adviser with the company.
Related Article Block Placeholder Article ID: 1245478
Trump’s wrecking ball will reshape American life for decades
As Crikey has previously reported, the Trump family is not squeamish about making money from cryptocurrency while in office. The first family’s profits from cryptocurrency now top US$1.4 billion, according to a Bloomberg analysis.
It’s not just the Americans who are using the Polymarket either. In February, two Israelis were charged with using classified military information to place bets on the platform on how events would unfold, and now face charges including bribery and obstruction of justice. Last month, an Israeli journalist, after reporting on a missile strike in Israel, started receiving threats from people who had bet on the strikes on Polymarket, trying to force him to retract the report.
Not wanting to miss out on the fun, Truth Social announced last year it was launching its own prediction market, the aptly named “Truth Predict”. “We’re democratising information and empowering everyday Americans to harness the wisdom of the crowd, turning free speech into actionable foresight,” Devin Nunes, chairman and CEO of Trump Media, said in an October statement.
If the wisdom of the crowd is anything to go by, Donald Trump’s days could be numbered. Odds on Polymarket are giving him a 67% chance of being impeached before the end of his term, as the war in Iran remains incredibly unpopular, and many even in his own party have been shocked by Trump’s threats to “destroy Iran’s civilisation.”